Is Everyone Gone

I think in fairness to Elizabeth that she considered a Westminister Abbey burial to be an honor. But the sisters had an extremely difficult relationship, made worse by the big age gap, the differing religions, and the fact that Mary considered Elizabeth to be a bastard. They did have a form of love for each other, but it was not very functional. Something about Elizabeth that I've always liked was that she remained close to Anne Boleyn's relatives and showed them favor.

I think actually, she really wants a daughter.

No she's using makeup for sure. She wore a bunch of makeup to the beach.

Apparently, the Queen Charlotte miniseries was inspired by Harry and Meghan. But back to Catherine of Aragon, it's doubly ironic bc her appearance was often compared to Anne's. Anne did have dark hair and dark eyes and a somewhat olive complexion, while Catherine conformed more to the contemporary standards of beauty with the reddish hair and blue eyes. Also, because I love the Tudors era, some historians think that Henry might have had an STD that he passed onto his wives, which accounts for their decreased fertility.

I'm sure grieving the loss is part of it. I'm not denying her that. Just wondering if she feels doubly sad because fertility is so highly prized in her social circle and upbringing.

Jill seems to be having a hard time since it's the 1 yr anniversary of them losing Isla Marie. https://www.instagram.com/p/DHZEt5eywHW/ I think part of it is genuine grief over the loss, but I also wonder if part of it is the fact that Jill (unlike her sisters) seems to have extremely rough pregnancies and deliveries, and she feels lesser than because of it. I wonder if she feels upset bc she sees everyone else popping out babies like candy.

Super petty, but people who take "bed-time" photos with a full face of makeup. Not influencers, but just regular people. I have a friend who does this and it drives me nuts. She'll post "getting ready for bed with a good book" and post a photo of her in her jammies and sleep cap ... with a full face of makeup.

Tennessee Williams also had a sister who was mentally ill and eventually had to be institutionalized. A lot of his works deal with mentally ill siblings and the complex caretaking dynamic that occurs. Fun fact: Tennessee Williams' first name was actually Tom, so in Glass Menagerie "Tom" is a stand-in for him. Again, that play deals with a mentally ill sister.

That Sam Rockwell monologue is an instant classic. Poor Tim. "I don't even have my lorazepam, I'm going to have to drink myself to sleep" is the line of the night. I love Victoria.

Jill and the boys are filling out their NCAA brackets. I'm so glad she gives her boys the normal American experience.

Last night I went to the BAM Streetcar Named Desire and today I decided to rewatch the Streetcar Named Desire film. It's amazing that despite the censorship, how well the cast and creatives captured the play. I feel like Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden were all amazing. The Blanche I saw last night played a very different Blanche: high-strung, annoying, loud, pushy. It worked very well, but I appreciated how sensitive and sweet Vivien Leigh made Blanche. She has such sad eyes in the movie. Marlon Brando was incredible. Such magnetism! And I thought Kim Hunter added a genuine kindness to a role that often elicits very little sympathy (I mean, she doesn't believe her own sister was raped).

I posted this elsewhere but went to see Streetcar last night and here are my thoughts: -------------- Just back from Streetcar Named Desire at BAM. What I paid: $230 (bought last night). Just to be upfront because I know prices have been a topic. What I loved: Patsy Ferran as Blanche. She really carried the entire show. She was very different from Vivien Leigh. Vivien was soft-spoken, fragile, winsome. Patsy was the opposite: neurotic, chatty, domineering, quite cruel, and most of all, ANNOYING. You could sense why even Stella found her sister aggravating. This Blanche was more aggressively alcoholic than I saw the character. She was constantly gulping alcohol. Ferran cycled seamlessly between moments of absolute clarity with delusion. She cycled in and out so often that it became part of the fabric of the show: one moment Blanche could be dropping truth-bombs, another she would be completely lost in her own fabrications. Like when she was telling Stella what she thought about Stanley ... no lies detected. At those moments, her voice was clear and clipped and authoritative, like a female CEO. Other times, her voice trailed off as if she couldn't quite finish her own lies. Ultimately, she broke your heart. What I liked: Eduardo Ackerman did an amazing job pinch-hitting as Mitch. He was kind, decent, sort of wimpy, until the second act and then he was just as bad as Stanley with the slut-shaming. I also liked Anjana Vasan as Stella. I thought Vasan and Ferran captured the complicated sister dynamic well. I thought it was interesting that this Stella definitely didn't seem to believe Stanley at the very end. What I disliked: I hate to say it, because he's one of my favorite actors, but Paul Mescal as Stanley was a massive disappointment. First of all, his accent was hilariously bad and he kept slipping in and out of it. But more, despite the sledgehammer "STANLEY IS A BAD MAN" drums, you never sensed the charm or sexual magnetism that would make Stella willing to endure beatings and other abuse. He wasn't bad, but he kind of faded into the background. I expected way more. I suppose it is hard to top Marlon Brando's legendary performance, but I was just expecting more from Mescal. I was mixed about the production. Very minimalist, with only a raised platform and some props. I kept thinking that one partition that separated the two rooms at the Kowalskis would have given the production a much better sense of spacing. But I found the constant loud drum music and scenes being cut with interpretive modern dance to be just too ... idk, on the nose? It was as if Rebecca Frecknall didn't trust the drama and tension to organically happen, and was like "LOOK HERE, STANLEY IS BAD!" or "LOOK HERE! BLANCHE IS HAVING A BREAKDOWN!" But overall, I thought it was worth the price I paid, definitely worth seeing Patsy Ferran's performance.

I feel like most people's knowledge of Queen Charlotte nowadays comes from that Netflix miniseries. George III's mental breakdowns were truly terrifying though, so my sympathies to Charlotte. Apparently it was intimated that he became sexually violent. Charlotte refused to be alone with him, such was her fear.

There's something so depressing about how Jessa's kids just stay at the TTH all day riding their "taxi." https://www.instagram.com/p/DHCUWy4xw1k/?hl=en&img_index=1

I must admit Frogmore Cottage looks rather humble for a queen's retreat. But I guess by then Charlotte had so many pressing worries.

Katey looks great for someone who just popped out twins. I also like how she cut her hair fairly short. Must be easier to take care of with all those kids.

Some fun trivia: as her marriage deteriorated and George's mental illness worsened, Queen Charlotte did what any aristocratic woman would do with a troubled marriage: she built herself a new house and retreated there. The house is Frogmore Cottage, which was briefly the home of the Sussexes. Back then, rich women didn't get divorced, they just decamped to another mansion. Marie Antoinette also had her own house on the grounds of Versailles where she lived with her lover.

The pardon Derek Chauvin hashtag is all over SM now.

My new pet peeve is professional, staged proposal photos. I can understand doing it if you're a celebrity, but recently it's become de rigeur for everyone to have those.

Jaclyn's reaction at seeing women of a certain age at the beach was hilarious. Like dude, they're just older women. She acted like she saw rotting corpses. And I guess Tim is looking at serious jail-time.

Another thing about George III's kids was William IV was in a long relationship with actress Dorothea Bland aka Mrs. Jordan. They had 10 kids!

I feel like Jessa is an example of how the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Jessa just never took that step. The other sisters have taken that step. Maybe they haven't traveled that far (I don't think any of them will travel far in terms of politics, for example), but they have moved beyond their upbringing, even if it's something as little as being a better cook.

Thank you @Blergh! It's kind of hysterical that because of the Netflix Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte there are now so many stans of "Prinny's" parents. They did have a loving relationship (until his mental illness took over), but they were pretty awful parents. George III kept his daughters at home for life, and his sons ran wild. And they did not look like this:

I think no one gives a shit because Jessa is so spectacularly bad at mom-fluencing. In order for people to give a shit, you have to offer something to the table. I was looking at Katey Duggar's IG and her kids are adorable, she has these funny little reels, and she's not even that active on SM. With Jessa's IG you see messy kids, a miserable husband and a completely dour, charmless mom. Not very aspirational.

Well I was disappointed in the sketches. Thought they were more weird than funny. Nothing as funny as this: But Gaga kicked ass in the musical numbers. She's an incredible singer. And I like how she clearly is a hard worker who threw herself into every sketch.